To save Earth from an alien probe, Admiral James T. Kirk and his fugitive crew go back in time to San Francisco in 1986 to retrieve the only beings who can communicate with it: humpback whales.
The most acclaimed Star Trek adventure of all time with an important message. It is the 23rd century, and a mysterious alien probe is threatening Earth by evaporating the oceans and destroying the atmosphere. In their frantic attempt to save mankind, Admiral Kirk and his crew must time travel back to 1986 San Francisco where they find a world of punk, pizza and exact-change buses that are as alien to them as anything they have ever encountered in the far-off reaches of the galaxy. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy return as Kirk and Spock, along with the entire Star Trek crew.Written by
Robert Lynch <docrlynch@yahoo.com>
As the alien probe approaches Earth at the film's beginning, it emits a sound wave that Spock determines to be an attempt to communicate with humpback whales. After the first test screening and at the suggestion of Harve Bennett, Paramount studio heads sent Leonard Nimoy a memo asking him to create an on-screen subtitle to translate the sound, and suggested "Where are you?". Nimoy and Nicholas Meyer insisted that any explanation of what the probe and the whales were saying would ruin the sense of mystery. Eventually, Nimoy convinced Paramount to not use subtitles. See more »
Goofs
When Dr. Gillian Taylor picks up Kirk and Spock while they are walking into San Francisco, you can clearly see that the street is actually a parking lot. The stall markers are on still on the pavement. See more »
Quotes
Kirk:
You're not exactly catching us at our best.
Spock:
That much is certain.
See more »
Crazy Credits
The ending credits play on top of photos and clips from the film. See more »
Alternate Versions
The film was originally released in 1986, which was the 75th Anniversary of Paramount Studios. Accordingly, the opening logo for the film originally had the 75th Anniversary sign on it, as did the original video release. All subsequent video releases (and at least some 35mm film prints) have included the regular Paramount logo. See more »
This might be the most unusual Star Trek movie out there as the original Star Trek
prime regulars go back to 20th century San Francisco to get a pair of whales. It's
a matter of survival for the earth.
There's a real threat to the planet as a super race (maybe it's the Q continuum) that has sent a probe to the earth that is causing all kinds of climate change. And
they are sending out all kinds of sgnals causing massive flooding around the planet. They are sending out a signal to the humpbacked whales, the theory
being that if the whales respond the planet is being taken care of.
But in our time the whales were hunted to extinction or at least this species of.
So William Shatner and the gang go back to get some whales and save the
earth.
This is one wild and far out story, but it's compelling and draws you in. Best
scenes are Leonard Nimoy trying to fit into 20th century earth.
This film got 4 Oscar nominations in the technical categories. It's still enjoyable after over 30 years.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.
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This might be the most unusual Star Trek movie out there as the original Star Trek prime regulars go back to 20th century San Francisco to get a pair of whales. It's a matter of survival for the earth.
There's a real threat to the planet as a super race (maybe it's the Q continuum) that has sent a probe to the earth that is causing all kinds of climate change. And they are sending out all kinds of sgnals causing massive flooding around the planet. They are sending out a signal to the humpbacked whales, the theory being that if the whales respond the planet is being taken care of.
But in our time the whales were hunted to extinction or at least this species of. So William Shatner and the gang go back to get some whales and save the earth.
This is one wild and far out story, but it's compelling and draws you in. Best scenes are Leonard Nimoy trying to fit into 20th century earth.
This film got 4 Oscar nominations in the technical categories. It's still enjoyable after over 30 years.